Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Nate McMillan pre-game vs. Heat

"Everybody is ready to go. Greg is ready to go. Brandon is ready to go. All of our guys are ready to go."How did Roy respond to treatment after shootaround?

"He's ready to go. He got some treatment a while ago, so there's still something there, but he'll try and play through it.

"There's still some soreness there. The last day and a half he's been getting a lot of treatment to try and loosen it up. What I try to do is talk to the trainer and the player and both said he'd be ready. So we just continue our plan with him in the lineup."

Do you feel like you're starting over regarding adding Oden to the rotation?

"We are adding him to what we're already doing and we're going to have to fit him into what we're already doing, make those adjustments again because he's a part of what we want to take advantage of on both ends of the floor. Having him back in the lineup will be somewhat of an adjustment, so we'll try to work him in slowly."Do you have a limitation on the number of minutes he'll play?

"We haven't come up with a number of minutes, but if we can get him 15 to 20 minutes tonight I think that would be a good number."Do you try and call plays for Oden or just let the offense come to him?

"We're going to play basketball. The bottom line is we're going to try and win this game. We have a team of guys who need to play well; it's not just about Greg and Greg's return. Greg will fit in and we will slide him in and try to put him in situations where he can be productive, but we've got other guys that need to play well also."

Are you going to matchup Nicolas Batum with Dwyane Wade?

"I'm thinking that will be they way they will go; Wade on Nic and Marion, if he plays, on Brandon. So we will look at that matchup. Nic will have (Wade) and a few of our other guys will too. Travis will spend some time on him. Brandon will see time on Wade. And possibly Blake.

"So we'll make adjustments during the game that we fell we'll need to make, but Nic right now will start on him."

How do you think Batum has responded to checking some of the top guards in the league?

"One thing is he's been very aggressive. He got into foul trouble in Orlando against Turkoglu, but we want him to be aggressive. He's long and athletic and does a god job of moving his feet. So it's something he has to work on and adjust to the league and what they're calling on him. But I think the more time he spends out there, the better he'll get at defending those guys. He's starting at the small forward position and we need that wing to defend."